Draymond Green has had one of the worst seasons of his NBA career so far this year. His defense is no longer valuable enough to outweigh is meger offensive production, and it’s starting to show. It’s gotten so bad that the Golden State Warriors even considered trading him at the deadline.
According to sources close to the team, though, Green knows his time with the Warriors may be coming to an end after this season. After all, he’s a smarter guy than most give him credit for, especially when it comes to basketball talk. He knows that he’s not producing as much as he used to.
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“Green is a lot more perceptive than the average fan gives him credit for. He knows there’s a chance this could be his last season with the Warriors, especially after the uncertainty of the trade deadline,” NBA analyst Nick Friedell wrote in the NY Times.
Green has been one of the staples of the Warriors franchise for the entirety of the Steph Curry era. He was one of the three pillars that helped the organization win four championships in eight years. It was he, Curry, and Klay Thompson.
However, now Green is due for a $28 million payday next season when he picks up his player option. He’s simply become too expensive for his value.
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“He helped build the standard for the organization alongside Curry and Klay Thompson — it’s a standard he’d like to try and live up to as he faces an uncertain summer,” Friedell wrote. “Which includes likely picking up a player option worth almost $28 million.”
As of now, Green is averaging just 8.6 points per game while shooting 41% from the field. He’s also averaging just 5.2 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game, his lowest figures since he was 24. The most worrisome stats come on the defensive side, though, where he’s averaging 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.
At his peak, Green was a defensive phenom who led the league in steals per game. He even won Defensive Player of the Year in 2016/17. But he’s 35 now, and has clearly lost a step on both sides of the ball.
Green still has a chance for redemption if he can help the Warriors make a second-half playoff push. He’s still started in every game he’s played in this season, so the trust is still there from Steve Kerr. He just needs to get back to being the disruptor that he’s known to be on defense.
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If Green can’t turn it around by the end of the season, his time in Golden State will most certainly be over. Even if he does help them make a push, his $28 million price tag next season is hefty. Expect him to either be released or traded to another team that values veteran leadership at the end of the campaign.
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